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The Versatility of Loose Cover Sofas

Loose Cover Sofas

The Versatility of Loose Cover Sofas

At some stage in our journey of furnishing our home, we all have to make a sofa choice. It can be one of the most difficult decorating decisions we make. What style do we choose? Do we want a firm or soft sofa? Do we want clean lines or slouchy feather? Oh yes, and what colour do we want? So many decisions!

Our first sofas were loose covered. In fact, we still have them. We owned a 100 year old workers’ cottage with polished wooden floors, yellow painted vertical join wood paneled walls, and double-sash windows. I bravely convinced my husband that raspberry red loose cover sofas were exactly what our cottage needed. They looked fabulous and guests always commented on our brave choice of colour!

Fast forward 10 years, two boys and a new modern style house and we still have our sofas. To blend their traditional style with the clean lines of our modern house I had new loose covers made in a durable light coloured washable fabric. They do get grubby with the boys’ dirty feet, snack crumbs and our grey cat sleeping in a corner of one of them. But every now and then I wash them and put the covers back on – they look brand new again.

We have 3 favourite styles of loose cover sofas. We chose these as our go-to sofas because they are the ‘little-black-dress’ when it comes to styling versatility – we can dress them up and we can dress them down.

Dressing them Up

We recently styled a gorgeous gabled house. The formal living room has an antique Persian carpet, wainscoting around the bottom half of the walls and polished wooden floors. A shoulder-height fireplace adds grandeur. We added our Chantilly slipcover 3-seater sofa in salt & pepper, a matching loose cover ottoman and coordinating armchairs. We used a pair of Chantilly armchairs in a different area of the house and styled them in a more casual way.

Loose Cover Sofas
Loose Cover Sofas
Loose Cover Sofas

Dressing them down

As the images show below, the same sofas can look very different in a casual setting. Choose a lower curved arm such as our Hamptons sofa range to soften lines in your room, adding to that casual feeling. Choose light-coloured cushions in earthy tones to being the beach inside. Add rectangle or round coffee tables in light wood. Add navy to channel the ‘Hamptons’ or soft colours and patterns to create a more earthy colour palette.

Loose Cover Sofas
Loose Cover Sofas
Loose Cover Sofas

Mixing them up Completely

Let’s not forget that the only rules in your home are the ones you make. When it comes to design, there aren’t any rules. Sure, there are guides to good design, and following them leads to a room that is aesthetically pleasing and physically comfortable – which is why we place importance on them. But our home needs to reflect us, and I don’t know about you, but I’m not very good at following rules all the time! The basis of good design is the right core pieces. A versatile sofa can be styled in many ways, which makes it the key to good design.

Loose Cover Sofas
Loose Cover Sofas
Loose Cover Sofas

Oh, and the best part? You can order replacement covers or have some custom-made in your choice of fabric by our expert upholsterer!

If loose cover sofas are something you are considering, or you already have one and would like some new covers for it, come and see us and we’ll help you choose your next look for your home.

Loose Cover Sofas